In an Aviva Premiership season that has seen a record number of retirements, it’s sad that today a friend of mine has joined the list of players being forced to quit the game early due to injury.

Joe Ansbro
today announced his retirement from rugby after suffering a serious neck injury
in a pre-season fixture against Munster last August. I was with Joe on the
pitch when it happened in the first half at Musgrave Park. He stopped a Munster
player in trademark fashion, chopping him down with a tackle. It was the sort
of contact I have seen hundreds of times (and seen Joe make on numerous
occasions) and the game continued as normal. A few moments went by
before the referee stopped play so that Joe could get treatment. You
always hope for the best in these situations, but after watching both the
Munster and London Irish physios assess Joe and then call for a stretcher, the
full extent of what had happened started to materialise. Play stopped for
nearly ten minutes and when it was confirmed later that evening that
Joe would staying behind in hospital in Ireland for further scans and
treatment, we knew something serious might have happened.

Over the
last nine months Joe has stayed positive, which is to his immense credit. I missed
seven months of the 2009/2010 season. Knowing you are going to be out of action
for a long period tests you mentally and physically. It is torture. But anytime
Joe was at the club, particularly in the early stages when his neck was
mobilised by a halo brace, he still had a smile on his face and was making
jokes as if nothing happened.

He was
always popular and anyone who knows him will have witnessed his
determination to get back to full fitness. Many times I remember being midway
through a training session when I would look up to see a lone figure doing laps
on one of the other pitches – it wasn’t a random visitor aimlessly wandering
the Sunbury training grounds but actually Joe, just working hard and getting
stuck into his rehabilitation schedule.

He will not
have taken the decision to retire lightly. I know he would have loved to play
more games for London Irish and Scotland, but such is the nature of the sport
we play.

At 27, he
still has his whole life ahead of him and will no doubt go on to have great
success on his next career pathway. I know Joe has been in touch with our Rugby
Players’ Association (RPA) throughout this time and situations like this
emphasise the importance of provisions and assistance being available for the
growing number of players being forced to retire due to injury or illness.
Restart, the rugby players’ charity, is instrumental in this and I know they
will be helping Joe so that he has everything he needs to kick start his next
adventure. Cambridge educated, he’s always claimed that he’s the smartest at
the club (especially smarter that Jamie Gibson, his Oxford rival at the club
who we often tested against each other to see who knew more) but Joe has always
been level-headed and while saddened by being forced to retire, I’m sure
exciting times await him in the future. Having played for Northampton Saints,
London Irish and represented Scotland 11 times, including the Rugby World Cup
in 2011, Joe ‘M’bu’ has been a credit to rugby and will be missed by all at
London Irish and in the rugby community.